Great Gift Ideas For Mom

Mother's Day is one of those holidays that should last all year.  I say that not because I am a mom, but rather because my mom is THE BEST!  Now that I have my own brood, I appreciate my mother more now that I ever thought.  I find myself saying "mom I am so sorry for everything that I have ever done" more and more!  I feel that Karma will help me in my own journey of motherhood!

So, I want to give you all some ideas for spoiling your mom this year.  All of these projects can be created through your own FREE Heritage Makers lifetime publishing account!  If you are like me, I am always looking for something different.  Here are some ideas that any mother will love!

1.  Create a cookbook with the recipes you love the most from mom!  Add pictures of you with your mom to make it more special!

2.  Make a deck of playing cards with photos of you and your kids.  Mom will be the hit of her bridge club!

3.  Get her a gift certificate for her favorite hair and nail place.  Moms love to be pampered!  Include a heartfelt card with special photos of you together.

4.  Create a book that lists the 50-100 things that you love about mom.  Capture the great moments with photos from childhood on up!

5.  Make mom breakfast in bed (but let her sleep in too for an extra gift!)  

6.  Create a deck of "mom coupons".  Include things like "will do the laundry" or "will cook dinner" or even better "free hugs"!

7.  Create a wonderful gift sake for mom to display all year long.  Take a special photo and make it into 12x12 scrapbook page.  Then, modge podge the page to a 12x12 tile. Get a plate display stand and you have a precious keepsake!

8.  Make mom her own set of note cards!  Create the cards with her initials or photos of her favorite flowers, favorite quotes, or any favorite at all!

9.  Make her a personalized planner!  Include favorite photos so that she can show all of her friends her kids (and grandkids)!

10.  Give her a Heritage Makers gift certificate and let her creative juices flow!

Remember, Father's Day is also coming up!  Many of these great ideas can be made for dad too!  It is never too early to start thinking ahead!

Great Contest

I have found a great contest on a great blog!  Moms and those of you who know moms of little ones have to check out this site!  The blog is www.mommysidea.com.  Also, check out www.elliebags.com.    The prize is a blog makeover (something that I am in desperate need of as you can see!)  Check out the contest at www.mommysidea.com!

Here's how to enter . . . 

1. Visit http://sweetpeadesignstudio.com. 
2. Come back here and leave a comment telling us why you want to win this giveaway. 
3. Be sure to leave your e-mail if you don't have a blogger ID.  Bloggers- you must have a public profile and listed e-mail for us to find you. 

Who wants extra entries?! 
(Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  Current subscribers, you can use these extra entries too, since we’re so happy to have you here!) 
4. Sign up for our Mommy's Idea feed or e-mail feed. (Over to the right.) 
5. Become a follower of Mommy's Idea. 
6. Blog about and link to this giveaway. Please leave your blog url in your comment. 
7. Stumble this post or www.mommysidea.com. 
8. Add our Mommy’s Idea button and/or Ellie Bags button to your site. 
9. Tweet about this giveaway.

What is my legacy?

In the hustle and bustle of my life, I have to always be reminded to stop and "smell the roses".  I will admit, if they had a rehab for people who take on too much, I would be the first to sign up!  I don't know why I do it to myself, but I have.

In the process of taking on three businesses, a full time job, being mother of two, and wife to a man who also takes on too much, I have started to realize that it is or will take a toll on my family.  I had one of those "aha" moments as Oprah likes to call them the other morning as I was feverishly trying to get everything into book bags and comb a 3 year olds snarly hair.  What are my kids really going to remember of me?  What legacy am I leaving for them?

Now maybe you are reading this thinking that I am crazy because legacies are not something that we think about until we are older.  However, I really believe that I want to start thinking about that now while I have something to say about it!   So, I have started to think about what I want to leave as my legacy for my kids.  Do I really want them to think of me as the stressed out mommy who was running from meeting to meeting or do I want them to remember a happy mommy who was fulfilled and made time for them and for herself?  It is a hard balancing act to play, but one that I know I must work on.

In the meantime, I am going to help my ancestors leave their legacies with my kids.  I was stuck the other day when I was telling my son a story about my paternal grandfather and he said to me, "Mommy, you had a grandfather?"  Have I really failed to mention all of the great times that I had growing up with this man?  Had I really forgotten to tell my kids that I got my blond hair and blue eyes from this man?  That he one of the greatest men to ever walk this earth?  

So, while I work on the legacy that I am building, I am also going to work on telling and recording more of the stories that make me who I am and ultimately, who my children are as well.  I believe strongly in the power of story and feel that it will help my children be more connected to me and those great people that I had the pleasure of growing up with as well!

Pick of the Month!

May is turning out to be a great month to do some Heritage Making! Check out this amazing deal! As always, if you are interested in taking advantage of this special pricing, please contact me today at kelly@whystorybook.com or at 716.462.8846. These deals are not available on the website!

I am back!

WOW! It has been a while since I have posted a blog. I have to admit that I have gotten myself into so many different avenues that I have not been able to concentrate on one thing in particular. However, after taking a short "hiatus" in the month of April, I am back!

While still being very new to this whole blogging thing, I am seeing the potential and the benefits of it. That is why I am committing to be being a better blogger and really "beefing" up what I write about. So, please stop back often!

My goals are to not only write about how to preserve your own memories, but also about some of things that I am preserving with my own family as well. I am also going to be looking to write about one thing that has inspired me each day. I have found that with so many busy schedules, it is sometimes hard to take a step back and really see what is going on around us. My goal is to be more "in the moment" and learn to be thankful for the great things around me. I am so blessed to be surrounded by an amazing family, great friends, and really great inspirational people! In the process, I hope that I can inspire you to do the same! So here is to a wonderful and inspiring day!

Live Life...Inspired!
Kelly

Dream Boards

Hello and Happy Tuesday!


I am a HUGE fan of motivational books and tapes. I have recently started listening to very little else in my car. One of the pieces of advice that seems to resonate in all of the tapes and books is thinking about your goals and writing them down. All of the experts say that writing them down will make you more likely to achieve them. I believe that this is true. So what does this have to do with inspiring kids?

To go along with the idea of writing down your goals is to visualize yourself achieving your goals. You may have seen the idea for the “Dream Board” on Oprah or other shows. This is an idea that I am currently working on for myself and have done with some of my middle school students. It is a great motivator for pre-teen and teenage kids as well as adults.

The “Dream Board” is kind of like the collages that we used to hang in our bedrooms. Remember the days of making a board with photos of friends, family members and Kirk Cameron? (Ok..maybe I am just showing my age) The Dream Board should contain pictures, phrases, and words of things that you want to achieve in your life or career. For teenagers, they may have goals for school, college, making a sports team, or overcoming a fear.

To make the “Dream Board” you simply need the following materials:

*a poster board or large sheet of paper

*old magazines

*photos of family, friends or yourself

*markers or colored pencils

*anything else that you want to decorate with!!

To start, you should think about your goals and things that you want to accomplish. It can be anything from a trip that you hope to take, becoming a work at home mom, having a better relationship with friends or parents, to having financial freedom. For teens and pre-teens it could be getting a lead in the school musical, making the volleyball team, or getting into NYU. Then, you need to find pictures and words that will depict what you are trying to achieve. Make a collage full of all of the things that you visualize yourself achieving. Make it as wonderful and full as you can!


The most important part of this exercise is to hang the dream board some place that you will see it every day. Some suggest putting it in your bedroom where you will see it the minute you wake up. Others suggest putting it right by the door out of your house so that you see it as you leave for your day.


Another important aspect of this project is to share your board with the people you love and those who support you. Letting others know what you are striving for will help them to support you and understand why you are spending hours working on your dream. Doing this with your kids will also help you to understand them better. These boards can be great conversation starters! You may find something out about your teen or yourself that you did not know!!

I encourage you to share your dream boards with me! I will have my dream board done by the end of the week and will share with you! As an extra incentive, I am going to enter all who subscribe to this blog and share their photo of their dream boards in a raffle for a FREE Heritage Makers poster publishing credit. You can use the credit to make another dream poster or a poster with photos of yourself achieving your dreams!

Join the Club!

There are only a few days left to take advantage of the greatest deal in Heritage Makers history to date!  Become a member of the Premier Club and get 12 months of Studio Premier and an 8x8 storybook credit for only $99.95!  This is the best pricing for studio that Heritage Makers has ever offered.  The offer is only good until January 31st, so be sure to contact me today if you are interested.  Remember, this offer is only good through me!  It is not available on the website.

To sweeten the deal, I am offering Premier Club Members the following perks:

* an exclusive workshop for Premier Club Members only each month

*an entry to win a FREE publishing credit each month!

Call or e-mail me today to take advantage of this great deal!